


The Boy Who Loved and the Quest for Serendib

by frankenstina



Category: Adore You - Harry Styles (Song), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, One Direction (Band), 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Adventure, Adventurer Harry Styles, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, BTS are Not Human, Bad Puns, Bunny Jeon Jungkook, Cameos, Cat Min Yoongi | Suga, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Don't Examine This Too Closely, Fandom Allusions & Cliches & References, Fantasy, Forests, Found Family, Fox Kim Taehyung | V, Gen, Harry Potter References, Harry Styles is Like a Disney Prince, I Can't Believe I Wrote This, I was not drunk when I wrote this, Kim Namjoon | RM is a Dork, LGBTQ Themes, Leaving Home, Let's Go Lesbians, Little Mermaid Elements, Magic, Magical Realism, Mentioned Other K-pop Artist(s), Mentioned Stray Kids Ensemble, Merman Matthew Kim | BM, No Romance, Not Humans, Princes & Princesses, Raccoon Jung Hoseok | J-Hope, Reindeer Kim Seokjin | Jin, Satire, Shipwrecks, Song: Adore You (Harry Styles), Sort Of, Swan Park Jimin (BTS), Tags Are Hard, This Is Not Going To Go The Way You Think, This Is STUPID, Trans Men are Men, Trans Women Are Women, Why Did I Write This?, Witch Kim Namjoon | RM, Witches, Wizards, Women Being Awesome, Women In Power, as in actual animals, dw you don't have to know any of them, i love that tag omg, i thought it would be easy to think of tags but it's not, i wish i could say i was, i'll get back to this later, loads of 'em, mermaids becoming human, no beta we die like my love for JKR, the rest of BTS are Woodland Creatures, the rest of One Direction (+ Zayn) have cameos, they're the friends I wish I had, this one's a doozy, trans people are people
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-18 21:34:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29124996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frankenstina/pseuds/frankenstina
Summary: P R O L O G U E
Relationships: Harry Styles & Kim Namjoon | RM, Harry Styles & Matthew Kim | BM, Harry Styles & Zendaya Coleman, Matthew Kim | BM & Kim Namjoon | RM
Kudos: 2





	The Boy Who Loved and the Quest for Serendib

**Author's Note:**

> **_[ P R O L O G U E ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VF-r5TtlT9w) _**

The Storm came unexpected, as many unpleasant things do. The Sea, which had been so calm mere moments before, was now raging with unparalleled fury. Its once dazzling blue waters were now an inky black, because it reflected the Sky, and the Sky was black, because of the aforementioned Storm.

Nothing stood a chance against Poseidon’s wrath- least of all the small boat that was being thrashed from wave to wave, like an unfortunate ball in an aggressive game of Foosball. Only, it had a boy in it, and the boy stood even less of a chance, because unlike boats, boys die.

The Wave came next. The boy watched in horror, and made a feeble sort of cry. His lips tasted air one second and salt water the next.

There was a flash of silver, and then everything faded to black.

❤

When Harry woke up, he was on a beach of golden sand. The sun was hitting his eyes, sapphire-blue waves crashed against the shore, and a small crab was inspecting his toes. He didn’t see any of this, though, because of the aforementioned sun in his eyes.

“You’re alive!”

Harry opened his mouth to say: ‘Indeed, disembodied voice whose owner I cannot see because the sun is in my eyes’. What came out was: “Ergluff,” and a mouthful of salt water.

There was a noise much like a fish flopping around, and then a shadow fell over Harry’s face. He peeked one eye open, and was met with a pair of dark brown/black (it was hard to tell the difference) eyes staring into his own. “Hello, bipedal being.”

As far as introductions go, this was a rather strange one, and Harry was duly confused. “I am confused,” he said, confusedly.

The person (?) blinked. “Confused? That’s a weird name.”

“No, I meant-” Harry pushed himself up on his elbows. He finally got a good look at the owner of the voice. “You have a tail.”

“An astute observation.” From the waist upwards, at first glance, the Being looked like any other conventionally attractive man. However, his (delightfully sculpted) torso, unlike those of other conventionally attractive men, was attached to an impressive silver fish tail.

“You’re a merman!” Harry exclaimed, flailing his arms around and nearly smacking said merman in the face (pardon the lad for his enthusiasm; he was still slightly disoriented from inhaling a considerable amount of seawater).

“You’re on a roll!” The merman inspected his fingernails. His skin, now that Harry looked closer, was made of tiny flesh-colored scales. On each side of his neck, there were three parallel gill slits.

“You saved my life,” Harry realized. “Thank you.”

The merman shrugged. “All in a day’s work. Why were you sailing in the middle of a storm, anyway?”

“The storm was not in effect when I began my voyage, you see.”

“That makes so much more sense.”

Harry nodded gravely. “I owe you my life…” He screwed up his face. “… What’s your name?”

The merman straightened his posture and cleared his throat. “Matthew.”

“I’m Harry,” said Harry.

“That’s a much better name than ‘Confused’.” Matthew inspected Harry’s scale-less face. “Where are you going from here on, Harry?”

Harry took a deep breath. No one on Eroda knew about him leaving; no one would’ve cared. It was strange to find someone who did. “I’m trying to find somewhere I belong.”

“I’d tell you to cross off ‘the bottom of the ocean floor’ from that.” Harry glared at him, and Matthew winced. “Too soon?”

“Where I lived before… it was never a home for me,” Harry admitted. “All I ever wanted was a family.”

Matthew’s brows drew close together, like two hairy worms meeting in a kiss. Or a derriere collision, depending on which side you considered to be the face. “So, you were just going to drift aimlessly on the ocean until you came across land?”

“Pretty much.”

“That’s a stupid plan.”

“Hey, people do it all the time on TV and they wind up perfectly fine!” Harry insisted.

Matthew’s face bore a stunning expression of utter bewilderment. “What’s a TV?”

Harry pursed his lips. “Well, it’s this object you can use to watch other people do interesting stuff and live vicariously through their lives.”

“I want one!” Matthew declared. “I want _eleven_!”

“Ah, but you see,” said Harry gently. “They don’t work underwater.”

“I have never been more devastated in my entire life.” Matthew spent a few more moments being devastated, then turned to Harry with a bright grin. “So, where do you suppose you can find this place where you belong?”

Harry looked over his shoulder at the land behind him. The beach stretched on for several more paces, after which came a dense forest, which extended as far as the eye could see. “I suppose there’s only one way I can go from here.”

Matthew nodded. “I would strongly advise you against going in the opposite direction, but I think you’ve learned your lesson.”

Harry nodded, staggering to his feet. His clothing had dried out, but they were all stiff and cardboardy now. “What about you? Where will you go?”

Matthew gnawed his lip. “You don’t suppose there will be a TV, in this place where you belong?”

A long pause stretched between them. Finally, Harry asked slowly, “D’you want to join me?”

Matthew’s beam was instantaneous. “Hold up!” He took a deep gulp of air, and as Harry watched, equal parts enthralled and disturbed, Matthew’s tail split down the middle. His scales dissolved, his fins disappeared, and the gills on either side of his neck seamlessly melted into skin.

Matthew lifted his new legs in the air and wiggled his toes. “Your leg hair is silver,” Harry observed.

The once-merman glanced down at his crotch. “And so are my pubes!”

And so the two men began their journey, with not the foggiest clue where they were going to go.


End file.
